Hawks sole Midwest survivor again

Once again, the National Hockey League Conference finals sees just one Midwest based team remaining as the Hawks made its third straight visit to the battle for the Clarence Campbell Bowl.

It was evident early on that the Midwest crew in the NHL would not match the 2013-14 season performance that saw all five of the Midwest teams advance.

The Columbus Blue Jackets made that evident early, but saved face somewhat as one of the hottest teams in the league down the homestretch, hoping to build some momentum that might carry into off season and perhaps the new season as well in the fall.

The Jackets looked promising through the pre-season as it looked to build off of last season’s playoff performance, but a devastating series of injuries had an adverse affect on the team almost immediately.

The key injury was to starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, but there were several others and by the time the team starting to play the way it expected to, teams were closing in on the Christmas Break and the Jackets were miles behind.

But, looking more like a good bet for the Connor McDavid Lottery than the Stanley Cup, the Jackets made things interesting with a solid stretch run. While they were never able to get within striking distance of a playoff spot, the team was truly one of the league’s best in the final weeks of the campaign.

Minnesota Wild appeared to be enduring a similar fate in the West Conference, but their late run actually did translate into a playoff spot.

Devan Dubnyk played the catalyst role, enduring nealy a half of a season in consecutive games before finally getting a night off between the pipes late in the campaign.  Dubnyk is the latest star among a crew of goaltenders that have shared duties in the past few seasons.

Injuries, illness and plain old spotty play has seen a crew including Niklas Backstrom,  Josh Harding, Darcy Kuemper, Ilya Bryzgalov and now Dubnyk each getting a shot in the past couple of seasons.

Dubnyk was the one that got the team into the post season and also played a part in the team’s first round upset in the Central Division semis of the St. Louis Blues.

While that opening series win set up a second straight Central Division Championship series between the Hawks and Wild, it also saw the St. Louis Blues making a third straight first round exit leaving enough off-season questions in St. Louis for them to at least chat with departing Detroit Red Wings Head Coach Mike Babcock. It appears Ken Hitchcock will return here, but management has clearly shown it is not about to sit around and just watch the window close on this team’s opportunity.