Thirteen years ago today, the Chicago Blackhawks began their run to the 2013 Stanley Cup championship – and their first game of the postseason proved to be a formidable test.
Throughout my lifetime, I’ve always made a mental note of the dates of major sporting events I’ve attended over the years – games where I feel like I can remember the minute details surrounding what I was doing and how myself and everyone around me was feeling.
A big part of what makes sporting events so memorable is the level of anticipation that can build before they happen – whether that’s purely out of excitement or anxiety seems to not matter as much.
The Chicago area was undoubtedly rife with anticipation as the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs began. Despite a lockout-shortened 48-game regular season that didn’t get underway until late January, the Blackhawks emphatically emerged as the league’s team to beat.
The Blackhawks were undefeated through the first half of their season, starting off 21-0-3 before finally losing in regulation for the first time in their 25th game of the year. The Hawks went on to finish 36-7-5 on the year, earning 77 points and winning the Presidents’ Trophy by a five-point margin over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
With the Hawks having won it all just three years prior in 2010, fans across the region were fairly confident that another ring could be on the horizon – nevermind that Presidents’ Trophy winners notoriously fare poorly in the postseason.
The playoffs got off to a bit of a later start due to the lockout earlier in the season, with Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals taking place on April 30, as the top-seeded Blackhawks were met by the resurgent eighth-seeded Minnesota Wild.
The Wild was in an intriguing position as a franchise at the time of this series – after missing the postseason for four consecutive years, Minnesota stole the show in the offseason by signing top free agent targets Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to massive long-term contracts. The moves were ultimately enough to put the Wild back in the mix in the Western Conference, with Minnesota totaling 55 points over a 26-19-3 season.
After a typical day of my junior year of high school where hockey was the only thing on my mind, I made my way to the United Center along with my dad, younger sister and one of her friends. I had gone to at least one playoff game each year since their streak of success began in 2009, with me hoping that the Hawks would avenge their first round losses of 2011 and 2012.
Although the Blackhawks were overwhelming favorites in the series, I couldn’t help feeling a little bit nervous about how the expectations would fare on this team, even considering their battle-tested nature at the time. The Wild had a solid contingent of veterans, and Parise was just coming off a run to the Stanley Cup Final the prior year with the New Jersey Devils.
Upon entering the United Center for warmups, some of the tension in the building was eased as fans learned that Minnesota’s star starting goalie, Niklas Backstrom, would be unavailable for the game – leaving largely unknown 28-year-old backup Josh Harding as the game’s starter.
While fans, myself included, presumed that a blowout was on the way, it was truly anything but. After a raucous pregame introduction and national anthem, the air was quickly sucked out the building thanks to a goal from Cal Clutterbuck just under five minutes into the first period.
Immediately, what was a party-like atmosphere where blowout wins had become an expectation transformed into a crowd of on-edge fans who were already thinking about disaster.
Honestly, I couldn’t blame them too much. Many likely remembered the unreal regular season the Blackhawks compiled in 1990-91, taking home the Presidents’ Trophy and 106 points before falling to the Minnesota North Stars in the first round in six games.
After all, hockey wasn’t and isn’t like basketball – top seeds aren’t given a total walk in the park in the first round, leaving no guarantees for even the most dominant of regular season teams. Hell, the 2012 Los Angeles Kings just got finished winning the Stanley Cup as a No. 8 seed – dispatching the Presidents’ Trophy winning Vancouver Canucks in the first round.
Hitting the first intermission with the Blackhawks trailing 1-0, fans were left hoping that this team was different – the rare exception that could carry regular season dominance over to the playoffs.
After around two minutes of play in the second period, the crowd collectively exhaled as Marian Hossa converted on a power play opportunity with assists from fellow franchise icons Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith, tying the game at a goal apiece.
Although myself and thousands of other fans in the building initially thought that this goal would unlock an ass-whooping the rest of the way, the result was anything but. The Blackhawks weathered two Minnesota power plays throughout the rest of the second period while Josh Harding remained stoic in net, keeping the score even heading into the third period.
By the time the final frame of regulation got underway, the anxiety and uncertainty that gripped the crowd a few hours earlier was back in full force. Ultimately, this was the way that great teams could get beat on their home ice – weather the early storm, keep it close and instill fear and hesitancy into the opponent.
The apparent youth that was still present on both sides became more readily apparent in the third period. Players, consciously or not, played more passively and aimed to not make the big mistake as it began to look like the next goal would win the game. The Blackhawks managed to kill off the lone penalty of the period, a high-sticking infraction from valuable penalty killer Niklas Hjalmarsson just under seven minutes into the frame.
Both teams held serve for the remainder of regulation, ensuring the first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs would go to overtime – just as it did four years earlier when I was in the house for my first-ever playoff game in any sport. Yet unlike soaking in the moment of being happy I was seeing my team in the playoffs like I was then, I and many other fans were unapologetically anxious at this point – dreading what would be a gut-wrenching overtime loss at home to start the series.
Sure, losing one game in a best-of-seven series is far from a death sentence – but a Game 1 loss for a Presidents’ Trophy winner at home would have made all of the worst fears of fans appear as if they were becoming true – merely continuing a recent legacy of Presidents’ Trophy winners running out of gas and falling short once the playoffs began.
But this team was so remarkably complete, a fact that often gets overshadowed by the lockout-shortened season the club’s feats were accomplished in. The players that comprised Chicago’s incredible core were all hitting their primes at the same time, while Corey Crawford had truly emerged as a big-moment goaltender for the franchise. They were just too good to be given this much of a setback by a team making its first playoff appearance in five years.
The overtime period felt as if it lasted several hours, even though the game did in fact end in the first overtime.
Following a few early missed opportunities in the frame, the two clubs traded penalties just before the halfway point of the period – with Chicago defenseman Johnny Oduya committing a high sticking infraction before a holding the stick penalty from Minnesota’s Tom Gilbert wiped out the power play just over a minute later.
With the game looking poised to head into a second overtime as less than five minutes remained on the clock, the Blackhawks created an excellent scoring opportunity out of thin air they made sure to capitalize on.
With forwards Bryan Bickell and Viktor Stalberg at around center ice, defenseman Johnny Oduya made one of the most incredible passes I’ve ever seen live – flipping the puck up along the endboards deep in defensive territory up to the heart of center ice, where Stalberg picked it up.
From there, Stalberg found Bickell going hard to the net from the left side of the ice, who skated in and perfectly executed a backhand shot to secure the 2-1 win for Chicago with just 3:25 remaining in the first overtime.
Within mere seconds, what was a powder keg of anxious energy exploded into pure joy and elation as the Blackhawks set the doubts and anxieties of fans aside to triumph in a massive win at home – avoiding the barrage of headlines questioning their playoff readiness after a home loss.
From there, the Blackhawks finished off the Wild in just five games – only dropping Game 3 on the road – before taking down the Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings en route to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Blackhawks went on to defeat the Boston Bruins in six games in that year’s Stanley Cup Final, still standing as the most recent Presidents’ Trophy to follow through and win it all in the same season.
Although my perception of the Blackhawks during this time was forever tainted due to the 2010 sexual abuse scandal that came to light in 2021, it’s impossible to remove the excitement and lifelong memories that come with attending any Stanley Cup Playoff game – let alone an overtime winner involving an eventual champion.
This is the best time of year to be a sports fan for a long list of reasons – yet what still stands out the most all these years later is being able to remember where I was, how I was feeling and who was there to experience it all with me.
Sports are meant to be an incredibly communal experience for fans – and that’s ultimately what makes watching games such an enduring part of worldwide culture.
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