The Blackhawks can put the San Jose Sharks out of their misery Sunday by both beating and eliminating them. Misery and the Sharks go hand in hand in the post season as they have had some stunning defeats over the last 6 years. Should the Hawks advance on it won’t be so much stunning but the fact that they would have done it in just four games would be considered a surprise.

The Hawks didn’t practice on Saturday but did have meetings and it was obvious after speaking to the individual players that one of the themes was not to put the horse in front of the cart. They certainly are aware that they are just one win away from playing for the Stanley Cup but they also know that anything is possible in the playoffs. You have to go no further back then just 10 days ago to see that Boston had Philadelphia down three games to none only to see the Flyers win the last four games. It’s not likely that lightning would strike twice like that in the same post season but the Bruins choke job really has the attention of the Hawks.

Look for the Hawks to come out flying on Sunday while still playing that patient mistake free game. If they can get the early lead it’s all together possible that the Sharks might fold their tent. The Shark players were in an upbeat mood on Saturday but you know their confidence has been shaken and it wont take much to push them over the cliff.

The prediction here is that it will be another hard fought close game on Sunday but when the dust has settled look for the Hawks to be advancing on to Lord Stanley’s Cup Finals.